In deployments of embedded devices, such as set tops, trend reports are a tool that is used to track the stability of new code releases and to identify patterns on many other service, network device trends. Typically, these trend reports are generated by polling devices, querying specific information, and generating reports that highlight trends. However, there are a few challenges with this method in that many consumer devices are behind a Network Address Translation (NAT)/Firewall gateway, thus it is difficult to poll without specific support in the gateway. In addition, polling a large population (millions) of devices takes a very long time and can present an undesirable load on the access network, the back-end systems, and the devices themselves, especially if no new information is available.
In some architectures, it is very difficult to manage devices that are connected to the network through a NAT/Firewall gateway. Consumer level NAT/Firewall gateway devices are typically not managed by the service provider, and therefore cannot be configured by the service provider to allow common management protocols, e.g., HTTP, SNMP, SSH, through the NAT/Firewall gateway to reach the digital media device. Due to these difficulties, in many architectures, the service provider does not manage devices behind unmanaged NAT/Firewall gateways or on unmanaged networks (like the Internet).